Who’s Next to Run Intel? A Look at the Contenders

Aside from the headline that CEO Paul Otellini is retiring in May, the most important part of Intel’s press release on the subject was this:

The board of directors will conduct the process to choose Otellini’s successor and will consider internal and external candidates for the job.

For the first time in Intel’s 45-year history, the CEO is retiring without a blatantly obvious successor teed up and ready to take over. And on top of that, the board will conduct a search that includes external candidates. That’s kind of a big deal for a company that has always promoted from within.

Otellini’s own succession was a stage-managed affair. When his predecessor, Craig Barrett, retired in 2005, Otellini was clearly the heir apparent, with practically no other candidates worth mentioning. Barrett’s succession was equally clear as he took over from the legendary Andy Grove in 1997.

For some years, Sean Maloney had been the odds-on favorite, until he suffered a stroke in 2010 that affected his speech and motor skills. His recovery was remarkable, and Otellini assigned him to run Intel China for awhile. Until he retired in September, Maloney remained a dark horse in the eternal succession horse race that Intel inevitably is.

Another potential heir had been Pat Gelsinger. Until September of 2009, when Gelsinger decamped for a job at EMC, and a chance to succeed Joe Tucci as CEO there, the race had been between Maloney and Gelsinger. Tucci recently named Gelsinger to run VMWare as its CEO (EMC is a majority shareholder of VMWare.) While Gelsinger’s name will likely be on the early list drawn up by the headhunter firm hired to conduct the search, by leaving Intel he has effectively burned that bridge and is out of contention.